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Switzerland legalizes online Gambling, bans foreign operators

Nearly 73% of Switzerland residents have voted in favor of a referendum that will legalize online gambling, but according to an article in The Local in Switzerland, the Gambling Act will be "among the strictest in Europe, allowing only casinos and gaming companies certified in Switzerland to operate in the country, including on the internet."

The vote spells a crushing defeat for the opponents who gathered the 50,000 signatures needed to put a law change to a referendum, warning the law's internet restrictions pose a serious threat to liberties online.

It will enable Swiss companies for the first time to offer online gambling, but will basically block foreign-based companies from the market.

This aspect of the law in particular spurred a coalition made up primarily of the youth wings of various political parties to launch the referendum.

Opponents have slammed Bern for employing "methods worthy of an authoritarian state", with a measure that they claim is "censorship of the internet."

"This sets a very dangerous precedent," Luzian Franzini, co-president of The Greens' youth wing and head of the campaign against the new law, told AFP before the vote.

Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga, however, insists that allowing only Swiss-based companies to sell gambling services is "indispensable" to ensure that everyone adheres to strict rules, like blocking known addicts.

lol, it's really bad news because all foreign casinos will get ISP blocked, and it's unclear if Swiss casinos will ever offer an affiliate program.
Anyway, get ready to lose your Swiss players unless they know what a VPN is and want to continue playing with their existing casino.

That depends. Likely Swiss operators will rent their licenses out or start joint ventures with foreign operators, like in NJ and Belgium. Most casinos in Switzerland are smaller casinos. It's more interesting to rent it out to a party like Unibet that knows how to make money out of it.

28 licenses should also be enough for a country like Switzerland.

Casino of Baden started a joint venture with Gaming1. Gaming1 we know as one of the crappiest operators in other regulated markets like Romania, Belgium and Spain.

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That depends. Likely Swiss operators will rent their licenses out or start joint ventures with foreign operators, like in NJ and Belgium. Most casinos in Switzerland are smaller casinos. It's more interesting to rent it out to a party like Unibet that knows how to make money out of it.

28 licenses should also be enough for a country like Switzerland.

Casino of Baden started a joint venture with Gaming1. Gaming1 we know as one of the crappiest operators in other regulated markets like Romania, Belgium and Spain.

I agree with youAlsoEuropean have opportunity to travel cross all Europe. That's why it is not so bad. Switzerland is to small, and Swiss people can get to border country wherry easy)

This is bad news, I live in Switzerland (small country, but players here are crazy about online gambling). Let see if some serious operators will have the chance to be regulated in partnership with land casinos, on that case it will be valuable, otherwise... good bye Switzerland!

Also, good people find out, they create a VPN, so what is the problem?))

I'd say that 90% of all useres never heard of a VPN, or won't know how to install it on a PC or mobile device. Usually a VPN is also not free. So why mess around with it? They just can sign up at a Swiss casino and still play.
So unfortunately, imo, by far most of the currently active Swiss players will just switch to a Swiss online casino. This means that you'll lose your Swiss players revenues.

Many casinos do not even allow players to use a VPN. I think many reputable operators that won't get a license will just pull out of the Swiss market. Sure a black market will remain active, with brands like 1xBet and other Curacao casinos. Some of them will allow to play with VPN, but like Strider1973 I think that most people won't bother to do anything else than play at a brand with a Swiss license.

I've red now about a rule that operators that were active on the Swiss market the last five years will be barred from entering the market. That would block basically every serious international operator.

Is anyone working on the Swiss market? Is that a good market and can one compare it to any other market? We have had some interest in the market but are not sure. Great article thx for sharing

I do not see anything special there. The country performs for me worse than for example Austria, even when their GDP is much higher. Many bookies are there already either blocked or deliberately blocked, so for example Tipico which is very good at DACH is not allowing regs already (maybe they want to apply for a licence?).

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